The waves crashed against the sand, as the beach grass swayed in the wind. It was a perfect day for swimming, and Hannah and William, both dressed in swim attire, agreed.
The sun was beating down on the citizens and tourists of Australia, and it wasn't getting any colder. With a beach towel in Williams hand, he laid out a towel and sat down, while seagulls flew overhead and gawked.
"Nice day huh?" William spoke as he held a cole in his other hand and opened it. It made a pop as he pulled the cap back and the came carbonation was sizzling.
"Yeah, it really is? What do you reckon Rob's doing?" Hannah wondered, as she laid down with her cover up over her swimsuit. William took off his shirt and Hannah didn't hesitate to peek at his abs and chest.
"I don't know. He said he knew a person, but he's kind of unpredictable sometimes." He admitted, taking a sip from his coke and he was overpowered by the carbonation, but it wasn't like the american coke. It was, to say, less sugary.
"Oh don't worry, I know." Hannah laughed, looking at William who chuckled too. The waves gave a nice ambience which smoothed out the sand. There wasn't anyone there really to there surprise.
"How do you think Bill is doing?" William asked, his head looking back out at the sea, waves crashing calmly.
"Oh Bill? Probably just, y'know, being Bill. Doing what Bill does. He was always a jerk anyways." Hannah revealed, running her finger and making patterns in the sand.
"Yeah. You haven't touched your coke yet." William grabbed her coke and then handed it to her as an offering, and she smirked at him as she took it and sipped it.
"Sorry. Is it like American Coke?" Hannah asked? intrigued as she took the offering and cracked it open, hearing the release of carbonation and then taking a sip.
"No. Well yes, just less sugary. It's nice." William announced, taking another sip with the shark carbonation taking him aback once again. It had been a while since he had a coke, and he was thankful for the taste. He never had needed a coke more, and he felt like he was finally getting used to Australia, despite being wanted.
"Mm, it's weird. Hey, I just realized I don't even know that much about you, William. If that's even your name." Hannah teased, fiddling with her dry hair while the sun tanned her body.
"Well, my name is William. And i'm 16, i'm from California. I wasn't planned, and my mom had a one night stand so that left me not knowing who my dad was. I moved to New Jersey with my mom because she got laid off, and you know the rest. Bad luck ever since." William admitted, almost as if he just realized the true sincerity of his background.
"I'm sorry. It must be hard to grow up without a dad." Hannah told William, as she took another sip of the cold coke. Birds gawked again overhead and the waves seemed to raise a bit.
"What was your background like?" William asked, following after her and sipping from the coke while the carbonation hit the roof of his mouth and satisfied his taste buds.
"Well, my family ran away from the Department when I wasn't even born. My brother, who was only three, was killed. Brutally. By the department. That's the main reason I went on this trip. It's time to crumble there little Department, and there corrupt system. We put a stop to there tyranny and face facts. The Department is a mess, and it was doomed from the start." Hannah slandered, getting a bit too heated and having to take breathes in to relax.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't even know. Hey, let's lighten the mood. Let's swim, that's what we got our swimsuits on anyways right?" William placed his can down and grabbed Hannah's hand as he stood, and started running towards the beach. Hannah started laughing, trying to take her cover up off as they both joyously jumped into salty water, while the Australian sun blasted down on ocean below.
*
"I don't get it. You hid the amulet away with the money in the desert why again?" Rob asked, curious on the current location of the Amulet.
"I was getting older, and this corporation was after me. Holding onto them any longer was a death sentence certainly." Mr. Bradshaw announced, looking out the window at the cars driving by, paranoid about the sight of agents.
"I see. Do you know the location these amulets exactly?" Daisy interrogated, her hand on the table and facing Mr. Bradshaw.
"Well if i'm being honest, no. I don't know where it is, but I might have an idea of where we can get it's whereabouts. Hold on." Mr. Bradshaw, quite fit for his age, stood up and walked over to a closet, where he removed a locked chest and placed it onto the table.
"It has a lock." Daisy stated, feeling the rusted metal lock which had clearly been on there for years and had never been bothered to be removed. There hadn't been a reason to, until now.
"I'm an expert at this. I got a bit of experience after living in the streets. Hand me your hair pin." Rob reached his hand out, palms open, and it took a bit for Daisy to realize and she pulled out a pin from her hair, handing it to Rob who inserted it into the lock and made a few turns, the rusty lock having to be handled aggressively. After a bit of tugging and turning, the lock came off, and clattered onto the table.
"Nice one." Daisy happily stated as they unlocked the chest to reveal a barrage of letters and more trinkets, as well as a photo of Mrs. Crainer when she was younger. But something caught Robs eye.
"What's this?" Rob picked up a letter, labeled 'Confidential' in all red. He tore it open with no hesitation as Daisy scooted over. Mr. Bradshaw watched from the other side of the table as Rob ripped the paper open to reveal a slip of paper with more ones and zeros, a clear indication of binary.
"Let me see." Daisy grabbed the letter and Rob handed her a blue pen, where she started decoding the elaborate set of numbers.
"What is it?" Mr. Bradshaw asked, grabbing a set of reading glasses over the table and walking over to see Daisy cracking the code to reveal a peculiar set of words.
"Outback Amusement Park." Rob read aloud. "What's that?" Daisy pulled out her phone, but the results showed nothing.
"I feel like i've heard of that before." Mr. Bradshaw suggested, looking around the room as if there would magically be any clues.
"I'm not finding anything. Wait, hold on. I found an article." She scrolled through the article, that was created about a decade ago, and it shocked them.
"The death of two kids on the roller coaster, it shut that place down for good. It's been abandoned for a long time." Rob summarized, looking up at Mr. Bradshaw who nodded.
"I remember. It was a tragedy." Mr. Bradshaw looked outside to see the darkness setting upon the suburban landscape.
"Great, we can head there in the morning. One problem though, our home is too far away. Can we just stay here tonight?" Rob suggested, as the sun had set, and Mr. Bradshaw nodded.
"Of course. I don't have visitors much, so it's a pleasant surprise. I could sleep on the couch, but there would only be one bed, is that ok?" Mr. Bradshaw curiously asked, washing a plate in the sink.
"Oh it's fine, but are you sure you want to sleep in the couch?" Rob asked out if the kindness of his heart.
"It's the only thing I can offer after you've shown me how much i've missed out. Now I understand what i've been missing, and i'm glad to offer my legacy to you, Rob." Bradshaw assured, patting Robs back and going back to washing dishes. The dusk settled in and the city of Sydney started to sleep, uninformed about the scheme happening tomorrow.
YOU ARE READING
The Eight Amulets, Vol. 1
General FictionEvery since William had arrived in Springfield, things had gone haywire. Car crashes, bullies, and trouble following him everywhere. But then there was a final straw when his mom became incredibly sick. It all leads to one curse, and it's down to Wi...
